To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

Green River
Community College
January 23, 1981
Volume 16, No. 10
Student ap ~S parking citations
by Karen Bielaga
A special session held by the nine
member Judicial Board last Wednesday
in the Rainier Room to decide a parking
violation case settled in favor of Nick
Smith, Director of Parking, who had
bro~ght charges against Mike Scruggs, a
GRCC student, who has currently $55
worth of unpaid parking violations.
Scruggs plans to appeal the decision to a
special Board of Appeals, which is cur­rently
being appointed by ASGRCC
President Ben Benson.
Scruggs stated that by the cut and dry
rules of the school, he is guilty of the
parking violations, which range from
parking in a faculty space, handicapped
space, overtime in a loading zone and in
a non-parking zone, but, though his
argument before the Judicial Board, he
had hoped to show unfair and unjust
parking paractices on campus, including
the fact that there is an estimated 2,000
parking spaces available for over 7 ,000
students that are enrolled for the
quarter.
Smith for special consideration in that
zone, they were turned down.
Smith produced Scruggs' violations as
evidence during the hearing as well as
three memorandums from various ad­ministrators
complaining about illegal
parking taking place and vehicles travel­ing
on campus access roads often block­ing
the way for campus and delivery
vehicles as well as fire lanes. None of the
memos specifically mentioned Scruggs.
In response to Scruggs' claim that
there is not enough parking space on
campus, Smith stated that the new "I"
lot has not been filled up even once, in­cluding
last quarter. He stated that the
dirt lot across the street from the school
was closed because the college no
longer had legal rights to that land.
GRCC had been leasing the lot for $1 a
year from a lady who privately owned
the property. However, last quarter the
woman sold the land to King County,
who then shut the area off and now the
General Contractor has control over the
lot, which will soon be converted into a
He also wanted to point out what he park.
feels are inefficiencies in the security
patrol on campus. Scruggs is the drum­mer
for the GRCC music company and
last month had $2,000 worth of band
equipment stolen from the Lindbloom
Student Center. The company had been
performing that night for a school func­tion.
Smith feels that there is enough park- a.--------•lllililiil ing on campus to accommodate all
Scruggs said that he had not been
aware that he would be defending his
tickets during the hearing last week. The
majority of his violations concern the
loading zone space behind the Perform­ing
Arts Building. Scruggs stated that it
is necesaary for him to load band equip­ment
into his car and that is nearly im­possible
to load all the equipment in 15
minutes, the time allotted for being park­ed
in that space. He stated that when he
and other music company people asked
students, although he would not reveal
how many parking permits had been
issued for this quarter.
Scruggs felt that he was being
discriminated against personally
because he was singled out when others
who park illegally receive little or no
penalty. He has been towed twice, once
from a lirye of cars parked illegally, where
he was the only car towed, and another
time with $3,000 worth of band equip­ment
in his vehicle, which Smith stated
the security department did not know
about. Scruggs drives a Ford Pinto.
Smith's defense to that charge was
that Scruggs was adequately warned in­advance
about towing possibility
because the parking department sent
The current staff is delighted and relieved that the hostages are on their way
home.
Our deadline did not permit a full feature story but see related editorial on
page 2.·
Artist & Speakers Series review
Arts and Entertainment . . . .
"Ten Nights in a Barroom"
review & photo essay
Sports .......... .
Sports/Classified Ads
.. page3
. . page4
.page5
. page7
.. page8
Pre-College test will be tomorrow
by Gregory M. Smith LSC, according to officials in Admis-
The Washington Pre-College Test will sions.
be offered tomorrow for students who Needed at the time of pre-registration
did not take the test as high school will be $9.00, an official copy of your
juniors. high school transcript and official
The test will be conducted in the lower transcripts from all colleges you have at­level
of the LSC at 8:30 a.m. Students tended. Needed on test day will be two
must pre-register now at the Admissions (2) No. 2 pencils, your receipts, and a
Window located in the upper level of the completed registration form.
Another bites the dust. Another illegally parked car is towed from GRCC
campus.
him three letters-one stating if all his
tickets were not paid in full, transcripts
would be held, and two others stating
that towing was a possibility. Smith
stated that GRCC has a very liberal tow­ing
policy, which is getting tougher, tow­ing
only when it seems probable that the
person in violation does not intend to
pay violations or continues to park in il­legal
and unauthorized places.
As for the stolen equipment, Smith
stated that it was left unattended in the
LSC, which can not be locked or
secured in any way. He feels that
Scruggs, as a professional musician,
should have known better to leave the
equipment unattended. Smith had been
on vacation at the time of that incident.
Scruggs felt that most students are
not aware that the student government
exists and that it is possible to appeal
parking tickets. He is glad that such a
system is set up and hopes that his case
will bring the Judicial Board to other
students' attention.
VA cracks down on fraud
by Eulalia Tollefson
Legal action will now be taken to col­lect
any debts under $1,200 owed the
Veterans Administration by veterans,
A law was recently passed authorizing
lawyers of the VA at regional offices to
take direct legal action in the federal and
state courts if necessary. Collection of
all debts had formerly been handled by
the United State Attorney. Debts under
$600 were written off because of the
high cost of collection.
Stephen M. Gold, of the VA District
Counsel in Seattle, says, "Many debts
are educational overpayments which
arise when a veteran fails to satisfy
reporting requirements and continues to
receive GI Bill benefits to which he or
she is not entitled. In a typical case a
veteran drops out of school, fails to
notify the VA, yet continues to cash
benefit checks. The V A's accounting of­fice
keeps records of those who are
overpaid and automatically contacts
them by letter."
Debtors have several opportunities to
resolve debts based on a series of letters
sent them from the VA's finance center.
Continued disregard of these letters
results in legal action. If a suit must be
filed the veteran will be responsible for
any costs or fees incurred as a result of
that action .
There is a full veterans counseling ser­vice
at Green River Community College,
where 400-500 veterans are currently
attending classes .
Warren Dickerson, of the Green River
Office of Veterans affairs, believes the
problem is largely one of misunderstan­ding.
He urges all Green River veterans
to promptly report any change in benefit
status.
"Any veteran attending Green River
should bring any letters of indebtedness
to this office as soon as possible,"
Dickerson said. "These letters are often
worded in difficult to understand legal
terminology and need interpretation. We
can advise the veteran as to the proper
procedure for responding to these let­ters,
eliminating or at least minimizing
many problems."

Commercial use or distribution is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder.;

Full Text

Green River
Community College
January 23, 1981
Volume 16, No. 10
Student ap ~S parking citations
by Karen Bielaga
A special session held by the nine
member Judicial Board last Wednesday
in the Rainier Room to decide a parking
violation case settled in favor of Nick
Smith, Director of Parking, who had
bro~ght charges against Mike Scruggs, a
GRCC student, who has currently $55
worth of unpaid parking violations.
Scruggs plans to appeal the decision to a
special Board of Appeals, which is cur­rently
being appointed by ASGRCC
President Ben Benson.
Scruggs stated that by the cut and dry
rules of the school, he is guilty of the
parking violations, which range from
parking in a faculty space, handicapped
space, overtime in a loading zone and in
a non-parking zone, but, though his
argument before the Judicial Board, he
had hoped to show unfair and unjust
parking paractices on campus, including
the fact that there is an estimated 2,000
parking spaces available for over 7 ,000
students that are enrolled for the
quarter.
Smith for special consideration in that
zone, they were turned down.
Smith produced Scruggs' violations as
evidence during the hearing as well as
three memorandums from various ad­ministrators
complaining about illegal
parking taking place and vehicles travel­ing
on campus access roads often block­ing
the way for campus and delivery
vehicles as well as fire lanes. None of the
memos specifically mentioned Scruggs.
In response to Scruggs' claim that
there is not enough parking space on
campus, Smith stated that the new "I"
lot has not been filled up even once, in­cluding
last quarter. He stated that the
dirt lot across the street from the school
was closed because the college no
longer had legal rights to that land.
GRCC had been leasing the lot for $1 a
year from a lady who privately owned
the property. However, last quarter the
woman sold the land to King County,
who then shut the area off and now the
General Contractor has control over the
lot, which will soon be converted into a
He also wanted to point out what he park.
feels are inefficiencies in the security
patrol on campus. Scruggs is the drum­mer
for the GRCC music company and
last month had $2,000 worth of band
equipment stolen from the Lindbloom
Student Center. The company had been
performing that night for a school func­tion.
Smith feels that there is enough park- a.--------•lllililiil ing on campus to accommodate all
Scruggs said that he had not been
aware that he would be defending his
tickets during the hearing last week. The
majority of his violations concern the
loading zone space behind the Perform­ing
Arts Building. Scruggs stated that it
is necesaary for him to load band equip­ment
into his car and that is nearly im­possible
to load all the equipment in 15
minutes, the time allotted for being park­ed
in that space. He stated that when he
and other music company people asked
students, although he would not reveal
how many parking permits had been
issued for this quarter.
Scruggs felt that he was being
discriminated against personally
because he was singled out when others
who park illegally receive little or no
penalty. He has been towed twice, once
from a lirye of cars parked illegally, where
he was the only car towed, and another
time with $3,000 worth of band equip­ment
in his vehicle, which Smith stated
the security department did not know
about. Scruggs drives a Ford Pinto.
Smith's defense to that charge was
that Scruggs was adequately warned in­advance
about towing possibility
because the parking department sent
The current staff is delighted and relieved that the hostages are on their way
home.
Our deadline did not permit a full feature story but see related editorial on
page 2.·
Artist & Speakers Series review
Arts and Entertainment . . . .
"Ten Nights in a Barroom"
review & photo essay
Sports .......... .
Sports/Classified Ads
.. page3
. . page4
.page5
. page7
.. page8
Pre-College test will be tomorrow
by Gregory M. Smith LSC, according to officials in Admis-
The Washington Pre-College Test will sions.
be offered tomorrow for students who Needed at the time of pre-registration
did not take the test as high school will be $9.00, an official copy of your
juniors. high school transcript and official
The test will be conducted in the lower transcripts from all colleges you have at­level
of the LSC at 8:30 a.m. Students tended. Needed on test day will be two
must pre-register now at the Admissions (2) No. 2 pencils, your receipts, and a
Window located in the upper level of the completed registration form.
Another bites the dust. Another illegally parked car is towed from GRCC
campus.
him three letters-one stating if all his
tickets were not paid in full, transcripts
would be held, and two others stating
that towing was a possibility. Smith
stated that GRCC has a very liberal tow­ing
policy, which is getting tougher, tow­ing
only when it seems probable that the
person in violation does not intend to
pay violations or continues to park in il­legal
and unauthorized places.
As for the stolen equipment, Smith
stated that it was left unattended in the
LSC, which can not be locked or
secured in any way. He feels that
Scruggs, as a professional musician,
should have known better to leave the
equipment unattended. Smith had been
on vacation at the time of that incident.
Scruggs felt that most students are
not aware that the student government
exists and that it is possible to appeal
parking tickets. He is glad that such a
system is set up and hopes that his case
will bring the Judicial Board to other
students' attention.
VA cracks down on fraud
by Eulalia Tollefson
Legal action will now be taken to col­lect
any debts under $1,200 owed the
Veterans Administration by veterans,
A law was recently passed authorizing
lawyers of the VA at regional offices to
take direct legal action in the federal and
state courts if necessary. Collection of
all debts had formerly been handled by
the United State Attorney. Debts under
$600 were written off because of the
high cost of collection.
Stephen M. Gold, of the VA District
Counsel in Seattle, says, "Many debts
are educational overpayments which
arise when a veteran fails to satisfy
reporting requirements and continues to
receive GI Bill benefits to which he or
she is not entitled. In a typical case a
veteran drops out of school, fails to
notify the VA, yet continues to cash
benefit checks. The V A's accounting of­fice
keeps records of those who are
overpaid and automatically contacts
them by letter."
Debtors have several opportunities to
resolve debts based on a series of letters
sent them from the VA's finance center.
Continued disregard of these letters
results in legal action. If a suit must be
filed the veteran will be responsible for
any costs or fees incurred as a result of
that action .
There is a full veterans counseling ser­vice
at Green River Community College,
where 400-500 veterans are currently
attending classes .
Warren Dickerson, of the Green River
Office of Veterans affairs, believes the
problem is largely one of misunderstan­ding.
He urges all Green River veterans
to promptly report any change in benefit
status.
"Any veteran attending Green River
should bring any letters of indebtedness
to this office as soon as possible,"
Dickerson said. "These letters are often
worded in difficult to understand legal
terminology and need interpretation. We
can advise the veteran as to the proper
procedure for responding to these let­ters,
eliminating or at least minimizing
many problems."